Hill equal to mountainous task at Caesars

Leah Robinson

Monday, Aug. 16, 2004 | 8:13 a.m.

The short answer: yes. Of course, it helps to make your re-appearance in the jaw-dropping Colosseum at Caesars Palace. Confidently working the daunting stage, she made the night her own.

"Can you believe this place?" she said. "This stage is overwhelming. It's made for dancers, and I'm no dancer, so I'll have to think of something else."

Instead, she filled the room with her voice. And although Hill's voice doesn't feature Celine Dion's range, she delivered soulful sincerity with each note.

Hill also upheld her reputation as country music's beauty, taking the stage wearing a gray pantsuit, silver beaded bodice, sequined bolero jacket and matching high heels. Her long blond hair was traded for a smart-looking choppy cut.

But it was her ability to connect with her music, laying bare the raw emotions in a song, that got the crowd's attention. A spontaneous midshow standing ovation is a feat, to be sure, and Hill managed to do it singing a tune no one had ever heard.

"I feel so blessed to have found this song. It's a gift, really," said Hill of the song called "Paris." "It's one of those beautiful pieces that just stays with you long after you hear it. It probably won't get much air play, though."

Hill sang atop a wooden stool with images of Paris flashing behind on the movie theater-sized screen.

The lyrics paint a picture of achingly devoted love, "I would steal the Mona Lisa/ rip it up in little pieces/ and lay them at your feet." The song will be featured on Hill's upcoming album, which has no title or release date.

Hill was at her best singing other poignantly somber numbers such as "Let Me, Let Go," "It Matters to Me" and "Cry."

Her best upbeat efforts were two covers, but still very well done. Renditions of the Doobie Brothers' "China Grove," and Janis Joplin's "Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart," infused the show with energy.

Hill's four nights at the Colosseum marked her long-awaited return to the stage. Since 2000, she's been at home raising three daughters with her country superstar husband Tim McGraw.

Knowing McGraw was waiting in the wings kept some in the audience anxious.

Early in the set, Hill gushed about her love for a song called "Good Old U.S.A." and the "wonderful" man behind it, "I'd like to introduce a gentleman to you ..." she started, interrupted by hoots, hollers, claps and loud whistling.

"Wrong-O. You think I'm gonna pull that trick outta my hat now? It's too early," she chuckled, pointing instead to her mandolin player, who wrote the cut.

McGraw did come out, eventually, during the second encore. His slick black cowboy hat and jeans served as a reminder that, yes, this is a country concert, but up until then it was hard to tell.

The couple sang a romantic duet "Let's Make Love," while gazing into one another's eyes, swaying and embracing between choruses.

It was a sweet moment, capped off by a passionate, almost wedding-day kiss.

The combination of the beautiful Colosseum stage and acoustics, McGraw's appearance and Hill's soulful pipes were a hit. Mystery solved.